Former Maharashtra minister, BJP chief Prashant Hiray joins NCP

In what might be seen as a serious setback for the Bhartiya Janata Get together (BJP) in North Maharashtra, former minister Prashant Hiray and his son former MLC Apoorva Hiray joined the Nationalist Congress celebration.

The Hiray household has a number of academic institutes within the district and a sizeable presence in two lok sabha constituencies, Nasik and Dhule.

Whereas Prashant has been a minister of state within the earlier Shiv Sena-BJP authorities in 1995, his son Apoorva was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council with the BJP’s help.

Whereas terming their return to the NCP as “ghar wapasi”, Prashant Hiray showered praises on NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, calling him the messiah of farmers.

“At any time when there’s a drought like scenario, farmers of the state simply consider one identify and that’s Sharad Pawar. That is akin to devotees remembering lord Vithhal,” Prashant stated.

Apoorva Hiray launched a scathing assault in opposition to the BJP for failing to ship on tall guarantees made to the folks of Nasik.

“We have been instrumental in registering the very best variety of members for BJP within the state from the district. We have been hoping that the BJP would deliver a couple of change. However we’re disillusioned by the BJP, particularly the youth,” Apoorva stated.

“Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had introduced that he’s adopting the district, a lot to our pleasure. However that too didn’t yield any outcomes,” he added.

The NCP chief too took a jibe on the BJP. “We needn’t undertake somebody to run the household. No matter we do, we do it on our personal functionality,” Pawar stated.

Coining a pun on Bhujbal’s identify, Pawar stated that the 2 Hirays would add ‘bal’ (energy) to the ‘bhuja’ (arms) of native strongman Chhagan Bhujbal.The Hirays’ entry into NCP has been seen as a shot within the arm for the celebration. Previous to the 2014 elections, the celebration had a stronghold in Nasik.

The celebration is hopeful of roping in additional such leaders within the run-up to the following common elections. The Hiray household has been in politics for 4 generations now.

Prashant’s father Vyankatrao Hiray was a distinguished face of state politics whereas his mom Pushpatai has additionally been a cupboard minister. The household has political roots in Dabhadi close to Malegaon with the political affect stretching in two districts.